CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Spotlight Sunflower Freedom Project

January 27, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- The RiverKings will showcase the works of the Sunflower Freedom Project on Thursday, January 28, when the team battles the Rapid City Rush at the DeSoto Civic Center at 7:05 p.m.

The Freedom Project was started to provide a way for middle and high school students in Sunflower County (Mississippi) to develop the educational and leadership skills they would need to be successful college students.

Executive Director Greg McCoy served as an intern with the Sunflower Freedom Project during the summer of 2003 before returning to college in North Carolina for his senior year.

"Luckily, I was able to get a job with the Freedom Project and came back to work as a full time staff member in 2004," McCoy said. "I've been here ever since. I enjoy the real results. We work in a relatively small community, so we really get to see the impact of our work: seeing students go to a great college, find a new interest, or recognizing that moment of clarity, when they realize they can do more they've imagined. I get to see that on a daily basis.

"I'm constantly impressed and intrigued by my students and every year I meet students of whom I find myself saying, 'Wow, I've never met a student like this before.' I've not seen a program that challenges our students as early as we do, so I feel we're unique. Because we're focused on essentially making kids stronger - academically, socially, mentally, and physically - we're constantly pushing them, and therefore, I see growth all the time."

Sunflower Freedom Project's current enrollment is about 40 middle through high school students who hail primarily from the cities of Ruleville, Indianola, Moorhead, and Sunflower. More than 80 percent of those students receive free or reduced lunch and would be considered low-income families. McCoy says the most important characteristic of these students, however, is that all of them possess a desire to improve.

"Ask any student in the Delta if they want to be successful and they'll say yes," McCoy said. "Ask that student if they have the tools they need to be successful and you'll get a response that is a lot less definite and certain. The Freedom Project helps students develop these tools over six years through after-school, Saturday, and summer programs.

"What makes our program interesting is the way we go about educating our students about the paths available to them and how to stay on them. We fully integrate trips, e-mentors, and college students into our program to make our students visually and mentally connect the dots of what it takes to be successful."

McCoy says the students who complete the Freedom Project learn a valuable lesson within the first year of their participation: through hard work, perseverance, and valuing people, they can reach whatever goal they have, no matter where they start.

"Our students have gone on to colleges all around the country and are succeeding," McCoy said. "As we have more students enroll and see this, they begin to understand that they can be just as, if not more, successful. This type of positive, can-do attitude is what's desperately needed in Mississippi and the Delta, and has, in my opinion, the greatest potential for bettering it."

Outside of the academic curriculum, Sunflower Freedom Project hosts family game nights, pot-luck dinners, and open-houses to expose more people to the program. For more information, interested parties can visit the website, www.sunflowerfreedom.org, where they can read the blog and watch videos. From there, folks can find opportunities to donate, volunteer their time, comment, or even visit the Sunflower Freedom Project offices to observe.

The Mississippi RiverKings are supported by their community partners, season ticket holders, fans, and by program-related investments of the Maddox Foundation, an independent private foundation based in Hernando, Miss. The Foundation supports the team's programs that increase investments in area charities and their causes. To find out more about the RiverKings, call 662.342.1755 or visit www.riverkings.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2010


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